Japan challenges China with submarine military exercise in South China Sea
Attack submarine joined by helicopter carrier and two destroyers in first confirmed mission of its kind in disputed waterway
A Japanese submarine joined a military exercise in the contested area of the South China Sea, in a move that could infuriate Beijing, which claims most of the disputed waters.
Japan’s participation is the latest challenge to China’s military build-up in Asia’s most strategic waterway.
In a rare announcement on Monday, the Japanese defence ministry confirmed the submarine Kuroshio, as well as the helicopter carrier Kaga and two other destroyers, the Inazuma and Suzutsuki, took part in an anti-submarine warfare exercise in the South China Sea on Thursday.
This was the first time Japan’s maritime self-defence force has confirmed a military drill by a Japanese submarine in the waters.
Kuroshio, which left Japan on August 26, visited Cam Ranh in central Vietnam on Monday afternoon in the first port call by a Japanese submarine to a strategically important military base in Vietnam, the most provocative claimant against China’s military build-up in the South China Sea.